I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to beverage carriers, and more specifically to beverage carriers comprising detachable insulating sleeves and the method of making said beverage carriers.
II. Description of Related Art
Beverage carriers are used, generally, to hold and transport one or more beverage containers. Commonly, beverage carriers are used to hold six individual glass bottles (i.e., a sixpack) so that they can be stored and transported easily. These six-pack carriers are generally made of cardboard or paperboard, and are assembled using automated systems capable of cutting, folding and gluing the beverage carriers.
When a user desires to open and drink the beverages contained within the carrier, the user generally lifts the beverages out of the carrier and subsequently discards the carrier once all individual beverages are removed. The user may then desire to keep his or her beverage insulated from external heat sources, such as heat from the environment or heat from the user's hand, during consumption by inserting the beverage into an insulating device (for example, a Koozie®, huggie, can coolers, etc.). However, the user may often find himself or herself without a can cooler, and, thus, unable to easily insulate his or her beverage.
A beverage carrier that comprises sleeves that retain their structure after detachment from the carrier, that serve to insulate the beverage from external heat sources such as heat from the environment or heat from the user's hand during consumption (and, thus, eliminating the need to utilize a separate koozie), and that further can be simply assembled using automated machinery and materials commonly used in the industry, is clearly needed.